China National Real Estate Development Group (CRED), the mainland's largest property developer and affiliated to China's State Council, is in talks to sell a stake in its Web portal to Hong Kong-listed eCyberChina.net. The two companies formed a partnership in the development of PRCproperty.com, which develops e-commerce and property-related technology business. CRED vice-president Shen Dongjin (above) said the two parties were negotiating the shareholding split, and the shareholding structure of the portal would follow China's existing law governing Internet business ownership. The co-operation would pave the way for the two companies to capture a larger share of the mainland information technology market, to be opened after China joins the World Trade Organisation. At present, eCyberChina.net helps to develop two PRCproperty.com projects - central procurement and a digital community. CRED is encouraging its 200-strong member companies to purchase construction materials through the Internet portal. Mr Shen said annual purchase of construction materials amounted to five billion yuan (about HK$4.6 billion) and the portal could charge a commission between 3 per cent to 5 per cent.
